Food, Football and Autographs

How many channels do you have access to?  I grew up with 2 channels and sometimes we’d get a third, depending on the weather.  Today there are no great shows like the shows I grew up watching: The Cosby Show, The Waltons (my favorite), Starksy and Hutch, The Brady Bunch, MASH, Hawaii Five-O, Adam 12, Kojak, Sonny and Cher, Disney on Sunday nights and Wild Kingdom..I could go on and on. 

We watched cartoons every Saturday morning, now they have what they call cartoons, on every day.  SpongeBob needs to be canned.  The shows that are geared for younger audiences, have sexual tones and are not appropriate for kids.  These shows don’t teach any lessons.  Every episode of The Cosby show had a lesson.  Kids learned that it was not okay to lie to your parents, and punishment was given so you’d learn to respect them and learn to do what is right. 

Our kids often watch those shows about food – Chopped, Cupcake Wars, and others of this type.  They enjoy them and I get a kick out of them bringing what they learn or watched into our kitchen. So wouldn’t it be cool to go to a Battle of the Chefs competition? That is what we did. Sunday, we went to the Cornell School of Hotel Administrations 3^rd Battle of the Chefs competition.  Honestly, it wasn’t the food that convinced me to buy tickets to this event.  It was one of the judges.  Kevin Boothe.  Kevin is an NFL football player for the New York Giants.  Yes, I bought tickets and we went.  It was fun.  There were five teams competing and each team made an appetizer, a main course and then dessert.  We had 15 tastings and the kids had fun trying and talking about the foods.  They tried foods that they would have if I had made it at home. For example, a cold cucumber and strawberry soup. It was different and very good.  They tried foods and mingled with the college students as seating was an issue.  And then the judges appeared from the conference room.  We were first in line to get autographs.  Here’s proof:

 

Kevin is very nice.  He even took his Super Bowl rings off and set them on the table so we could pick them up and try them on.  They were huge, heavy and beautiful!  Something to be very proud of!  They kids had photos taken, received a signed photo of Kevin and enjoyed the afternoon.  It was a relaxed meeting and very casual.  An unforgettable afternoon!

Olivia got to meet another alumni from the school who is a chef.  He recently competed on Iron Chef America where he battled against Bobby Flay.   

What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Batter Up

Yes, it is that time of year. Spring is in the air. Baseball practice has started. Soon we’ll be attending baseball games in addition to practice. For the boy that was upset that his dad made him sign-up for the sport, he sure enjoys going to practice. I have enjoyed watching him practice and learn techniques that will improve his athletic ability. Now I have to wait for the games to start as his father has been taking him to practices. Just last week, the coaches started assigning positions to the players. Looks like our son will be a pitcher. Elliott was so excited about that! I was happy to see and hear about his excitement toward this decision. He does have a great arm and with practice, he’ll be striking those batters out! I don’t want any balls flying at him and knocking his teeth or him out. The more I think of the game and him standing on the pitchers’ mound, I want to ask my husband, “What were you thinking signing him up for baseball?” I’m not sure how I will deal with this sport. I’ll be silent as I sit on the bleachers, praying. However, we have two EMT’s that will be there watching their son play as well so that does calm my fears a little (just a wee bit).

Yesterday, we spent 3 ½ hours over at the baseball field. We joined 5-7 other families to get the field ready for practice and games. Lucky for us, a father brought is tractor and tiller. Another father brought his lawn tractor with a bag so no one had to rake after he mowed. Without that equipment, we would not have finished preparing the field, batting stations or the fencing. It looked nice when we left.

Next on our list is to get equipment bought for Elliott. We have already bought him a bat. Next we need to get him a batting helmet (with a face guard) and cleats. I can’t wait to start taking pictures and videos. Once again, my excitement is mounting. I have found pictures of frosted baseball cookies – ball and glove – and they are so much easier than some cookies I have made for football. I also have the Panther paw cookies down – so easy to make yet impressive. I’ll be donating goodies and working at the concession stand. I’ll do what I can to support our youth and their sports program. I do need to start gathering coolers, ice packs, chairs and all the other items I tote to games gathered. I am smiling as I plan to pack sunglasses and sunscreen instead of gloves, scarves, hats and blankets!

Bats, Baby, Birds and Baking

That sums up our weekend!  Elliott has baseball practice on Saturdays and he came home rather excited. The coaches “tested” their skills as they are working on player positions.  Elliott could end up being a pitcher.  Wow – first year playing. He was excited about that too. That made me happy to see him excited about the possibility of him pitching.  One of the coaches told John that Elliott has an awesome arm.  I was excited to hear this news but I also wanted to get him in the shower so we could head up north to see family and meet our new nephew. He is a month old and I wanted to get my hands on him. It has been a long time since we have had a baby in the family.  So the shower came after some pitching time in the side yard.  Our trip was not quick either as we planned to stop at Olympia to buy a new bat.  Father and son certainly can disagree.  Son doesn’t like to listen to his fathers’ reasoning but momma stepped in and bought the bat father recommended.  Off to the grocery store for two items and then we were on the road.

We had a very nice visit with our family and I held Cruz most of the day. Olivia was my shadow so I let her hold him too (not enough, I have been told) and the guys even held the little man.  We went with gifts. We took gifts for the big sister and the new little one.  The big sister loved opening all the gifts. Our visit was too short but enjoyed by all.  We had a great dinner followed by dessert and then it was time to leave.  Cruz was waking up so we did get to see him awake for about an hour.  We are so glad that our family has been blessed with another child!

Since we arrived home late, I was going to attend Sunday morning mass alone. I got up in time to have a quiet, slow morning.  John and I were talking in the kitchen over tea and coffee.  He noticed a pair of wood ducks landed in the lower pond.  So we looked at them with the binoculars.  They didn’t stay long but we appreciated their visit. Then I noticed a bird in a tree along the edge of the yard.  It looked like a puff ball.  At first I thought it was a morning dove but the binoculars told me I was wrong.  I had John look at it. He thought it was a sparrow hawk.  So I grabbed the bird book and looked it up. I was directed to American kestrel, part of the falcon family. This kestrel was being pestered by three blue jays. She flew away but came back and landed in the ash tree we have in the middle of the back yard.  Perfect spot, as I could watch her without any interference from other trees.  I really wanted to see her fly but I had to leave to get ready for mass. 

American kestrel - aren't they beautiful?

 

After mass, I went to Walmart for a few things and took my time returning home.  I had laundry to do and baking.  Olivia chose a new cookie recipe to make – maple crescents.  While she mixed that batch up, I decided I could make a pie. I have wanted to make a vinegar pie.  Not only will this allow me to cross of the V on my Baking through the Alphabet project, I was curious about the flavor of the pie. I will admit, I love vinegar! Elliott wanted to help so after he donned his apron, we made the crust. He did a good job but I had to remind him not to handle the dough a lot otherwise it doesn’t turn out flaky. And flaky is how a crust should be!  After popping that into the oven to bake, we set about making the filling. 

Vinegar Pie

1 9-inch pie crust, baked

1 cup white sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup water

1/2 tsp. lemon extract

1 Tbsp. butter

In a double boiler, combine sugar and flour. Mix well, then wisk in vinegar, eggs and water.  Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.  Just before removing from heat, stir in butter and extract.  Pour mixture into baked pastry shell. Chill before serving.

I stirred and stirred for a long time and it still was not thickening. So I dumped it into a saucepan and within a few minutes, it thickened up nicely. I also did not have lemon extract so I substituted orange extract. 

The kids were so excited about the pie.  They agreed not to tell John the name until he tried it. They even tried it and Elliott is not a pie person. He ate most of it too!  It had a nice flavor and tasted like a lemon, oops, an orange meringue pie.  So this went into the recycle bin – not because it wasn’t good. I can just use a lemon meringue pie recipe. 

The kids did like telling John the name of the pie.  The name reeled me in and now I can say I have heard of and made a vinegar pie.